PRASHNA UPANISHAD.6 - Rishi Pippalada

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Thursday, June 30, 2022. 06:00. AM.

#6 Questions, 67 Mantras : “Questions from Disciples Answered”

##KABANDHI’S QUESTION : Query No 1: “Matter & Energy”

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Mantram : 6 The Equality of Rayi & Prana – 2. All is Prana

1.Atha adityah udayat yat  prachim disham pravishati; 

2.tena praachyaan pranan  rashmishu sannidhatte.

3&4. Yad dakshinam yat pratichim  yad udichim yad adhah  yad urdhwam yad 

antara; 

5.dishah yat sarvam prakashayati;

6.tena sarvaan pranan  rashmishu sannidhatte.

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Translation : 

1.Atha adityah udayat yat  prachim disham pravishati; = First the Sun, rising,  goes towards 

the East;

2.tena praachyaan pranan  rashmishu sannidhatte.  =  and all the Pranas in the East  are 

embraced (thrilled) by its rays.

3&4. Yad dakshinam yat pratichim  yad udichim yad adhah  yad urdhwam yad antara; = 

Then  follow the southern, western  and northern quarters; then the above,  below and 

quarters;

5.dishah yat sarvam prakashayati;  =  - when all these directions are lit up;

6.tena sarvan pranan  rashmishu sannidhatte.  =  then all the Pranas (in those directions)  

are embraced (thrilled) by its rays.

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The Upasanas:

1-2 Step 1: Using the simile of the Sun to represent the source of all Prana that is

manifested, the imagery is set up by which the student meditates on the Sun as ‘embracing’

with its rays everything that is in the East.

3-4 Step 2: Once that is done, the student learns to see the Sun ‘embracing’ all other

directions as well. Gradually he sees that Prana is included in Rayi also. We start by seeing

God in one thing, but we should not stop there. It is easy to start seeing the Lord in a saint,

but we have to soon learn to see Him even in a sinner.

5-6 Step 3: When the student is able to do that, i.e. see God in all, irrespective of

what or who stands before our gaze, then “all the Pranas are embraced by the rays”; i.e. he

sees that both Prana and Rayi are Prana only. He trains his mind to be discriminative.

Some Notes on Seeing Prana & Rayi as One

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Let us consider the following analogy: An architect has to envisage a building’s usage

in order to design it. He has to “live” in the building before it is even built. The formless

building is first “built” in his mind, and then the physical form of the building slowly

manifests. The former represents the Prana aspect; the latter the Rayi aspect.

The message out of this lesson is that it is the same life-principle in all creatures.

There is no longer the individualistic view of life, characterized by “each one for himself”.

The teacher is trying to show that all Life is one; that there is one universal Life-force, and it

manifests through all life-forms.

We are not just enjoyers of sense objects. This is a limited view, taking the objects of

the world as real. Such a view perpetuates the cycle of repeated births and deaths. The

students have themselves gone beyond such an ordinary vision. That is why they have come

to the spiritual Master, Pippalada. Now the teacher’s task is to slowly raise his students to

greater and greater heights of understanding.

Teacher hopes that by viewing the world with this knowledge, the students will

see the fallacy of living life selfishly, merely for our own personal gain. A broader outlook is

stimulated in the minds of the eager students sitting before him. As the subsequent

questions unfold, we shall see how important it is to come out of our narrow ego-shells.

Being locked in the ego is the most serious obstacle to one’s spiritual growth.

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Next - 

Mantrm 1.7 Vaishwanara – The Immediate Source of Prana & Rayi

To be continued ....

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